Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Acquires 11,311 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 59.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,297 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,311 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 2,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of DAL opened at $64.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The company has a market cap of $41.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sao Paulo, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo.